Telephone call-box.



WITN E `S S Si PATENTED 00T, 2, l906.

-Ag VAN WAGENBN.

TELEPHONE GALL-BOX. P PLIoAfnon r'ILEn JULY ao, 190s; Bnnwnn un. a, 190e.

mx mms rrrxu amm. alumnus. n c.

UNTTED STATES lPATENT onirica.

ANTHONY VAN WAGENEN, QF SIOUX CITY, IOWA.

TELEPHONE CALL-Box.

i Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 2, 1906.'

Application filed July 30,1903. Renewed March 3, 1906.- Serial-No. 304:052-

'o all whom it may zimmern:

Beit known that I, .ANTHONY VAN WAG ENEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sioux City, in the county of .Woodbury and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Telephone Callrov Boxes, of whic the following is a specifica-- tion. v

My invention relates to telephone callboxes orl calling-transmittersI such as are used in automatic telephonejsystems for operating automatic central-station switches; and my invention consists 1n novel automatic.

releasing mechanism Jfor permitting the contact mechanism of the call-box to return to normal upon the completion ,of a call, and so to restore the corresponding 'central-stationswitch tofnormal.

.The objects of my invention are to insure the return `to normal condition upon Vthe come pletion ot a conversation' of the contact-l Vmechanism of the call-box and' the centralstation switch controlled thereby, to avoid f. the necessity of manually operat1ngthecall--. box to return itscontact mechamsm'to nor'- mal upon the completion of 'aconversatiom and to make the mechanism by which the, above objects are accomplished simple, free .from liability to derangement, compact, and

inexpensive.

I will now roceed to describe my invention with reierence to the accompanying.

drawings, in which one form of my invention is illustrated, and will then point out the novel features in claims. Y

In the said. drawings, Figure 1 shows a face view and partial vertical section of my improvedcall-box or calling-transmitter. Fi'

' vi?, shows a side view of the mechanism of sucn transmitter, the case being sectioned and a ortion of the bottom late broken away. ig. 3 is a detail view siiowivtg a portion of the contact-wheel and of the guard-wheel which operates' in conjunction therewith.

Fig. 4 is a detail view showin electric contacts operated by the receiverook. Fig. 5

is a detail view showing an alternative form of guard for preventing premature lockingof the contact-wheel.

The mechanism of my improved call-box,

except as to the improved automatic releas ing mechanism, is in general similar to that v shown in the patent granted to me on June -17', 1902, No. 702,751, and comprises a baseplate 1, adapted to be secured Vto any suitable support, acylindrical case 2, and a frame comprising a top plate 3', a bottom plate 4, and suitab e pillars 5, which frame is secured to the base-plate 1I and carries the contact mechanism. Said'l contact mechanism comrises a dial-Wheel 6 and a contact-wheel 7, oth revolubly mounted upon a central revoluble stud 8, anda revoluble dial 9, se-

cured toA said stud by means of a nut 10 and suitable clamping-disks 11. The dial and contact wheels are provided withl peripheral teeth corresponding in number and spacin j to the divisions of the dial. The dialy hee which is fast to the studj and revolves with it, is functionally a part of the dial,

being, in fact, merely a convenient means for locking the dialin the v.Waricus-positions in which itmay be setl Contact-wheel 7 is wise direction.

, A double locking-pawl or escapementawl 13 is provided for ocking the dial-whee Aand contact-wheel at suitable times. l It is mounted upon a stud 14, and its construction is such that it engages. the teeth of the dial-wheel in mounted to revolve upon stud 8 and is connected to dial-wheel@ by a spiral spring 12, Ywhich tends to cause the contact-Wheel to -follow rotation ofthe dial-wheel in a clockone position andV engages the teeth 4of 'the A button 16, carsaid wheel; but when the form of guard shown in Fig, 5 is employed said stud, 18 is carried by the contact-wheel itself. Aoontact-brush 20 is provided for making contact successively with the teeth of the contact-wheel as the said wheel rotates. The usual regulating geartrain 21 is provided for regulating the speed of the contact-wheel. 7

The automatic release, which vforms the subject-matter of the present invention, is operated by the ordinary receiver-hoolc2i2, which forms a portion of the instrument, be-

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ing mounted inla bearing-post 23 upon the base-plate 1 of the instrument. The axle 24 of the receiver-hook is provided with a latch 25, which l when the receiver-hook rises 5 pre's'ses the locking-pawl 13 into engagement with the contact-wheel 7 and holds it in engagement with such wheel until the telephonereceiver is replaced u )on its hook.

The operation of t e instrument is as fol- Io lows: To establish connection with another subscriber of the system, the subscriber presses in the button 16 of his instrument,

thusvrel'easin the dial-wheel nd locking the contact-whee and then rotates the diall, by

neans of the nut 10, until the number of the subscriber to be called is op y ositea suitable ointer carried by the case o 'the instrument.

n so rotating the dial-wheel while the contact-wheel is held stationary thespring 12,

zo connecting said wheels, is Wound up. The

subscriber then releases the'button 16, whereu on the locking-pawl 13 engages the dial- W eel, locking the dial in the position to which it hasbeen set and releasing the contactwheel, whereupon the contact-wheel moves forward under thel action of the spring 12 until its stud 18 encounters the corresponding stud of the dial-wheel. The contactwheel is then held stationary. The sub- 3o scriber then removes hisv telephone-receiver from the receiver-hook 22, which hook then rises under the tensin' of'its spring and the latch25 presses the lockingawl 13 into engagement with the contact-w eel 7 thus hold- 3 5 ing it in the position which it has just reached and releasing the dial-Wheel. The subscriber then rotates thedial back to the zero or 'norl mal position, in which positionthe dial will be held lby the pawl 26-used to dprevent back-f toward rotation of the dial an conversation may begin. To insurethe return of the dial tonormal beforejgattempt is made to begin conversation, the" dial-wheel .may carry 'a contact-point 27, which engages a contactbrush28 only when the' dial is in the normal -orzero condition, these tWo contacts being included in a talking-circuit (not shown)of which wires 29 and 30form parts. As the contact-wheel rotates, as above described,

v 5o the contact-brush' 20 makes contact successively With the teeth' of'said contact-Wheel, thus reducing an intermittent current in a .switc ing-circuit, (not shoWn,)-. by which the central-station switch is operated and the de- 'l 5 5 sired connection established. Upon the completion of the conversation-the subscriber re'- turn his receiver to its hook, and as soon as the said hookdescends the contact-Wheel is released and rotates under the action of the 6o s ring 12 until its stud 18 again encounters --t e stud-h17 of the dial-wheel, the contactwheel -being then in normal position and the central-station switch having been restored to normal position. y `It is ldesirable to provide means for 'preventing interruption. of the rotation ofthe contar-.t-a-*lieel by the pawl' 13 in casethe subscriber after setting'his dial to the number of the subscriber to be called should remove his receiver from its hook before the co'ntact- 7o wheel has caught up with the dial-wheel, thus permitting the receiver-hook to rise and press the pawl 13 toward the contact-wheel. For this purpose I may use guards such as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and Fig. l5. The 75 guard shown 1n Figs. 2 and 3 is a guard-'plate 19, toothed like the contact-wheel and func'- tionally a art of it and connected to the contact-whee by a spring 29. This guard-plate carries the stud -18,'which engages with the 8o stud 17 ofthe dial-Wheel. When these two studs are incontact, the teeth of the guardplatev are in registry with the teeth of the contact-Wheel; Yut as soon as the dial-wheel is advanced in operating the instrument to make connection with another subscriber the guard-plate is drawn forward with respect to the contact-wheel b sprin 29 through the space of half a toot whic is the extreme limit of such travel allowed by a sto 30, 9o workingin a slot in the guard-plate. ith theparts in'this position if the pawl 13 is. ressed against the contact-wheel by the atch 25 it'cannot enter between the teeth of 'such wheel, being prevented by the teeth of 95 the guard-plate, against which said pawl also l presses.; As soon as the pin 18 encounters the pin 1( the teeth ofthe guard-,plate will be moved back into registry with the teeth of the contact-wheel, and pawl 13 can thenenroo ga e and lock the contact-wheel.

n thefalternative arrangement snown in F ig.v5" the dial-wheel 6 carries a guard-rin 31, adaptedto t over the upper portion o the contact-wheel, so preventing the pawl 13 m5 from engaging said wheel.

Normally said yguard is held clear of the contact-wheel b wedges 32 and 33, one carried by the uar "ring, the other by the contact-whee; but

when the dial-wheel-is advanced with respect 1 io to the contact-wheel thesewedges no longer engage and the guard-plate descends so as to cover the. upper portion of the contact-wheel and prevent the pawl 13 from engaging therewith. This guard, however, does not Vcover .115

enough of the contact-wheel to interfere with p -the action of the contact-brush 20.

At least two sets of wedges placed ldianneti rically opposite are preferably employed to produce a balanced action. To prevent interference with the relative rotation of the dial and contact wheels, the wedges of one set should have a smaller radius than those of the other set.' In order that the guard 31 may move up and down with little or no fricr z 5 tion, it is preferably supported by springs 34,

Which also tend to press it down.

It is obvious that the invention herein described is sus'cepticd'ev of many and varied modifications Without departing from its 13o ing the usual automatic switches.

vone arrangement of switch-points which may `be employed is shown. The hook is provided with a forked extension 35, coactm with `contact-brushes 36 and 37 in the usua manner` What I claim is- 1. In a telephone call-box, the combination with an indicator, a contact member caable of motion With respect thereto, means or driving said contact member, locking means for said contact member, independent of 'said indicator, capable of locking said con tact member in various positions correspondlng to different positions or the indicator, and a a tch for hold-mg said'locking means in en'-A gagement Wit-h said contact member, of means `for releasing the contact member.

2. In a telephone-call'box, the combination with an indicator, a contact member capable of motion with respect thereto,

' means fordriving said contact member, locking means for said. contact member, independent otsaid indicator, capable ofA locking said contact member in 'various positions corresponding to different ositions of the indicator, andI a latch for olding said locking means in engagementwith said contact member, of a receiver-.hook arranged, when operated, to release said contact member.

3. In a telephone call-boX, the combination with a hand-operated member, a contact member capable of motion with respect thereto, a spring for driving said contact member connecting the same and said handoperated member, lookin means for said cont/act member capable ci locking the same in various positions, and s .iatch for holding said locking means in engagement With said contact member, of means Ier releasing said 'contact member. y

4. In a telephone call-box, the combina'- tion with a hand-operated member, a contact member capable of motion With respect thereto, a spring for driving said contact member connecting the same and Asaid handoperated member, locking Vmeans vfor said contact member capable of locking the same in various positions, and a latch for holding said locking means in engagement with said contact member, of a receiverhook arranged,

when operated, to release said contact member.

5. In a telephone call-box, the combination With anl indicator, a contact-Wheel, a spring connecting the same, and locking means arranged to lock the indicator or contact-wheel alternatively, in various positions 'of a latch arranged to hold said locking means In Fig. 4'

in engagement with said contact-wheel, and

means for releasing said contact-Wheel.

6. In a telephone call-box, the combination with an indicator, a contact-Wheel, a spring connecting the same, and locking `means arranged to lock the indicator or contact-Wheel alternatively, in various positions,

of a latch arranged to hold said locking means in engagement With said contact-Wheel, and means automatically operated forreleasing said contact-Wheel.

7. In a telephone call-box, the comb nation With an indicator, a contact-Wheel, a

spring connect-in the same, and a double vtion With an indicator, a contact-Wheel, a

spring connecting the same, and a double locking-pawl, spring-actuated in one direction, arranged .to lock the. dial or contact- Wheel alternatively, in various positions, of a receiver-hook provided with means tending to raise it, and a latch operated by said hook, which, When the hook rises, holds the lockin pavvly in engagement With the contact-Whe.

9. In a telephone call-box, the combination with contact mechanism comprising a contact member adapted for continuous rotation in one direction, Without return motion and means for driving the same, and means for arresting said contact member in various different positions, of a locking device independent of said arresting means adapted to -lock said contact member when arrested in any oi such positions, and means for releasing said contact member therefrom.-

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member adapted for continuous rotation in one direction, Without return mot-ion, means for arresting the same in various positions,

and locking means, independent of said arresting means, adapted to lock said member when arrested in any ci such positions, or means preventing engagement of said iocking means with said movabie member during motion of the latter.

12. In a telephone call-box, the combination with mechanism comprising a movablemember adaptedfor continuous rotation in With means tending to raise it, and meansA operated by? said hook for' holding said toothed lmember in different, positions, of

' means for preventing engagement vof said holding means With said toothed member during motion of the latter. l I

14. In a telephone call-box, the combination with contact mechanism comprising a toothed member, a locking-pavvl therefor, a receiver-hook provided With means tending to raise it, and means operated by said hook tending to press said paWl into enga ement With said toothed member as said hoo rises,

of a guard for preventing engagement of said.l

paWl with said toothed member during mo tion of the latter.

15. In a telephone call-box, the combination With a dial, a contact-Wheel, a spring connecting the same, said dial and contact Wheel having engaging projections, and a locking-pawl for said contact-Wheel, of a receiver-hook provided With means tending to raise it, means operatedv by said hook tending to press said paWl into engagement with said contact-wheel as the hookrises, and a guard for preventing engagement' of motion of the latter.

16. .In a telephone call-box, the combination With a dial, a toothed contact-Wheel, a spring connecting the same, said dial-V and contact-Wheel having engaging projections,

and a locking-pawl forl said contactwheel, j l said contact-Wheel having a correspondinglytoothed guard-plate, carrying the projection Which engages with the projection loi the dial,

and provided with means for holding the teeth of the guard-plate out of registry with the teeth of the contact-Wheel When `said projections are not in engagement, of a receiver-hook provided with means tending to raise it, and means operated by said hookl tending to press said paWl into engagement with t to engage both the contact-Wheel an its guard-plate.

17. In a telephone call-box, the combina- -tion With a` movable Vindicator adapted for continuous rotation in one direction, Without e contact-Wheel, said paWl ada tedsaid pawl with said contact-Wheel during I return motion, contact mechanism, a spring connecting the indicator and contact mechanism, means for locking the contact mech..

anism after a connection-signal has been transmitted, and means for automatically releasing said contact mechanism, of contacts adapted to be included in a circuit of the telephone s stem, operated by the indicator and Whic are joined only when the indicator is in normal position.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afIiX my .signature in the presenceof two Witnesses.

ANTHONY VAN WAGENEN.

Witnesses: i

v .J. M. LYNCH, C. E. GANTT: 

